Fleeing suspect pleads guilty
A local man who twice fled from authorities, prompting two separate manhunts, pleaded guilty to felony charges Wednesday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Nathan David Holmes, 29, who has remained in custody since his arrest on Jan. 2 in lieu of bonds totaling $43,000, pleaded guilty to theft by receiv-
ing more than $5,000 and was sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison, with five years suspended, and to felony fleeing and was sentenced to five years, with the sentences to run concurrently.
An additional felony fleeing charge and felony charges of first-degree criminal mischief and breaking or entering, along with several traffic-related offenses, were withdrawn as part of the plea agreement. In addition to prison time, Holmes was fined $500 and ordered to pay $8,435 in restitution and $170 in court costs.
According to affidavits, on Dec. 30, 2014, Arkansas State Police Cpl. Kevin Steed was on routine patrol on Central Avenue when he saw a speeding black Chevrolet pickup northbound and attempted a traffic stop in the 4700 block.
The suspect vehicle pulled into a parking lot, but then accelerated and circled back to Central and fled at a high rate of speed, prompting a pursuit that reached speeds up to 104 mph. The pursuit continued to Lookout Point and then to Long Island Drive.
Once reaching the dead end of Long Island, the suspect turned into a private drive and traveled through two separate fences, across four landscaped lawns, over a satellite dish and then into a ravine where the pickup struck a tree.
The driver and female passenger fled on foot running south toward several lake homes, prompting a search by multiple agencies. Garland County sheriff’s deputies were notified by a homeowner of an unknown female who had run into the home. They soon located the juvenile female, who admitted she was the passenger in the pickup, and detained her.
She identified the driver as Holmes and noted she “had begged him to stop and let her out.” She admitted they had been smoking methamphetamine during the night and that Holmes was armed with a handgun.
The pickup was determined to have been stolen on Dec. 16 in Garland County and the license plate exchanged for another one matching the pickup’s description. In searching the pickup, deputies located a baggie of meth, approximately 1 gram.
The passenger was cited for fleeing on foot and possession of a controlled substance and released to her grandmother. Warrants for Holmes were later issued.
The affidavit notes the amount of damage to lawns and property on Long Island Drive was estimated at $4,500 and the value of the stolen pickup, which was heavily damaged, was estimated at $20,000.
On Jan. 2, shortly after 9:30 a.m., ASP Trooper James Avant was stopped on Central near Amity Road when he spotted a southbound green car and noted the driver, later identified as Holmes, was not wearing a seat belt.
He attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle as it pulled into the parking lot of Harps Food Store, 5536 Central Ave., but the driver sped away headed south on Central, passing vehicles on the left.
The suspect turned onto Highway 290 headed east before coming to rest in the ditch on the south side of the highway. Holmes exited the vehicle and fled on foot into the woods.
ASP troopers, GCSD deputies and the Arkansas Department of Correction began a manhunt using the ADC’s tracking dogs, and Holmes was located shortly after 11 a.m. about 500 yards south of the vehicle. He was found hiding in a camper he had broken into and was taken into custody without further incident.